1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wire stripping apparatus, and a wire stripping method.
2. Background
A conventional wire stripping apparatus disclosed by Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho. 55-68808 is as shown in FIG. 12.
The conventional apparatus includes: a wire clamp 91 set on a base board 90; a movable board 92 which is movable with respect to the base board 90; an electric motor 93 which is rotatable both in the forward direction and in the reverse direction and is fixedly mounted on the movable board 92; a cylindrical cam 94 which is also mounted on the movable board 92; a pair of gears 96 which connects the upper end portion of the motor shaft 95 to the cylindrical cam 94; a pair of cutter holders 99 having followers 98 engaged with cam grooves 97 formed in the cylindrical cam 94; a cutter 100; a plate cam 101 connected to the lower end of the motor shaft 95; and a cam receiver 102 mounted on the base board 90 with respect to the plate cam 101.
The motor 93, when rotated in the forward direction, transmits its torque through a ratchet 103 to the gear 96, and, when rotated in the reverse direction, transmits the torque through a ratchet 104 to the plate cam 101. As the motor 93 is rotated in the forward direction, the cylindrical cam 94 is turned, so that the cutter 100 is moved upwardly. As the motor is turned in the reversed direction, the cutter 100 is moved back and forth together with the movable plate 92. When the cutter is closed, as shown in FIG. 13a the insulating cover 105a of the wire 105 is cut; and as the cutter is moved backwardly, the wire 105 thus cut is removed; that is, the cover 105a thus cut is removed from the wire 105. In the step shown in FIG. 13b, the cutter is closed to cut the exposed conductor 105b of the wire 105.
The above-described apparatus suffers from the following problems.
As was described above, when the motor 93 is rotated in the forward direction, the cutter is moved up and down; and when the motor 93 is rotated in the reverse direction, the cutter is moved back and forth together with the movable board 92. Hence, the wire stripping operation takes a relatively long period of time. Furthermore, the cylindrical cam 94 for moving the cutter 100 up and down, and the plate cam 101 for moving the cutter back and forth are driven respectively through the ratchets 103 and 104. Hence, the resultant wire stripping apparatus is intricate in structure, large in size, and high in manufacturing cost.
Furthermore, when the exposed conductor 105b is cut as shown in FIG. 13b, the insulating cover 105a springs back along the sloped surfaces of the cutter blades 100a as shown in FIG. 14a, thus being caused to go inwardly. As a result, a cover waste 106 in the form of a ring remains on the end portion of the conductor 105b. This may be due to the following fact: If, in the case where the cover 105a is to be cut as shown in FIG. 13a, the cover 105a is completely cut, then the conductor 105b is damaged. In order to overcome this difficulty, the cover 105a was not completely cut.